Safety revenue, postage, and like stamps



Dec. 15, 1936. v wlTTNEBEL I 2,064,281

SAFETY REVENUE, POSTAGE, AND LIKE STAMPS Filed Jan. 30, 1935 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 15, 1936 SAFETY REVENUE, POSTAGE, AND LIKE STAMPS Arthur A. Wittnebel, New Rochelle, N.'Y., as-

signor to American Bank Note Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 30, 1935, Serial No. 4,131

9 Claims.

The invention consists in improvements in safety revenue, postage and like stamps, and more particularly to a stamp of this character having characteristics preventing the re-use of the stamp if it be attempted to remove it from an article or to remove cancellation'markings therefrom.

The invention is to be distinguished from negotiable instruments having impressed thereon safety designs and tints to prevent alterations of such instruments. In such instruments, frauds are perpetrated by removing matter appearing upon the instruments and replacing the removed matter by other matter imparting a 15 different value to the instrument. In thealteration of such instruments, acids of one kind or another are used to remove the writing upon the instrument, and in the printing of such instruments, inks are used with which the acid 90 will react in a manner to destroy the line or other safety design, and in some instances, cause the penetration of the paper by the dissolved ink used in making the safety design.

Paper having those safety designs printed 25 with inks which will be reacted uponby acids are not suitable for use in the making of revenue, postage and other similar stamps, for the reason that with stamps the probability of any attempt to alter the value of the stamps is so remote as to avoid the necessity for the inclusion in the stamp of any means preventing alteration.

The difficulty with stamps, however, is that it is not of infrequent occurrence for people to 35 attempt to remove a stamp from a letter, document or article of merchandise and to use the stamp again, thus defrauding the issuing authority of the value of the stamp and reducing revenues from the sale of such stamps.

It sometimes happens that postage or revenue stamps are inadequately cancelled or are not cancelled at all and with some revenue stamps, cancellation of the stamps is not even resorted to, the issuing authorities relying upon the adhesion of the stamp to the letter, document or article or a necessary destruction of the stamp when opening a package to effect a mutilation of the stamp to an extent to prevent its removal and reuse.

50 If, however, a stamp be removed from one letter, document. or article by dissolving the adhesive, and applied to another letter, document or. article, there is no known method of detecting the fraud thus perpetrated, and particularly with revenuestamps having considerable value,

such a practice would be profitable to the perpetrator of the fraud.

Where cancellation of stamps, by means of inked printing stamps or by ordinary writing ink is relied upon to prevent re-use of stamps, the cancellation markings may in some instances be removed with an ordinary rubber eraser.

With the above conditions in mind, I have produced a stamp which includes therein the ordinary safeguards afforded by impressing safety designs upon the paper when producing the stamps, and in addition thereto, incorporates in such stamps additional protective characteristics preventing the removal of the stamps from a letter, document or article or the erasure of any cancellation mark therefrom Without so transforming the appearance of the stamp as to effect an immediately discernible and permanent cancellation of the stamp. In this manner, the removal of stamps is made impossible without detection. Stamps of my invention need not include any characteristics to prevent alteration of the stamps.

In producing stamps embodying the invention, it is desirable that they have the appearance of r ordinary stamps so that anyone who attempts to re-use the stamp may be apprehended, and other conditions of the stamp excepting those which are relied upon to prevent the fraudulent re-use thereof, may and should be those commonly found in similar stamps.

To secure a stamp having the desired characteristics, I employ a paper having special properties, to be hereinafter referred to, and use an ink in printing the design upon this paper, including therein a low percentage of water soluble coloring matter such as an aniline or other dye derived from coal tars, which will be readily dissolved and diffused by any liquid which may be used for dissolving the adhesive bonding the stamp to a letter, document or other article. The quantity of the water soluble coloring matter in the ink is sufiicient to cause its diffusion throughout and a smudging of the entire surface of the stamp if the stamp be subjected to water for a period suflicient to dissolve the adhesive. The quantity of the water soluble coloring matter as compared with the water insoluble pigment in the vehicle of the ink is sufficiently small to prevent the smudging of the stamp as a result of absorption of moisture from the air or a momentary contact of the water with the stamp.

The invention consists primarily insafety revenue, postage and like stamps consisting of a sheet of paper, one surface of which is adapted to receive an adhesive, a finishing coating containing coloring matter upon the other surface thereof, and having a design indicating the value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, Water soluble coloring matter and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design; and in such other novel characteristics as are hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawing,

Fig. l is a face View of a fragmentary portion of a sheet of stamps embodying the invention, a portion of this sheet being rolled to disclose the adhesive coated side of the sheet; and

Fig. 2 is a cross section of a sheet of paper upon a grossly exaggerated scale to indicate the constituent parts of a stamp.

Like numerals refer to like parts in both of said views.

In producing stamps embodying the invention, a sheet ID of any desired kind of paper or similar fibrous material is used, one face of this paper being adapted to receive a coating I I of an adhesive such as is commonly used upon postage stamps. Upon the other face thereof is a surface finish consisting of a soft glue, casein, starch or other well known sizing I2 containing coloring matter. The surface finish l2 may have a fairly high gloss.

The coloring matter used in' the coating I2 is preferably a light pastel shade and. tone, so as to provide in the finished stamps an underlying background tint of the desired color. This background tint may be continuous and have a uniform tone throughout, and the sizing used in finishing the paper will be such as to be softened by water or any other liquid so as to become readily absorbent.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing, the surface finish forming the background tint is indicated by light lines.

Impressed upon the background tinted surface coating [2 is any desired design represented by dark irregular lines l3, in Fig. 1 indicating the value of the stamp and incorporating in the stamp the usual safeguards against counterfeiting or illegal production of the stamps.

The color of the inked impression I3 is one which contrasts with the background tint I2.

The ink used differs from ordinary printing inks customarily used in the production of stamps of all kinds, in that the ink contains two different kinds of coloring matter, having distinctly different properties but carried by the ordinary ink vehicle. This vehicle is generally known in the printing art as a heavy plate oil which, upon oxidation during the drying of the ink, forms a protecting coating for the coloring matter. One is a permanent color pigment and water insoluble, and the other is fugitive or water soluble.

The water soluble coloring matter may be of a neutral color or may blend with the permanent and water insoluble pigment, and yet give no indication of the presence of the water soluble coloring matter in the ink. The dominant pigment in the ink must of course be permanent or Water insoluble, and the quantity of the water soluble coloring matter is relatively much smaller than that of the permanent or water insoluble pigment. The relative quantity of the insoluble and the soluble coloring matter, however, is subject to a considerable range of variation, it being merely necessary that the volume of water soluble coloring matter be sufiiciently great to assert its color in a pronounced smudge upon the exposed surface of a stamp if an article to which the stamp is affixed be soaked in Water to an extent to dissolve the adhesive of the coating 12 sufiiciently to permit the removal of the stamp from the article.

When the stamp is thus subjected to water, the soluble coloring matter is dissolved and is absorbed by the finishing coating [2 which itself is softened by the water, thus eifecting a dispersion of said coloring matter due to the flow of the solution and to capillary attraction. This dispersion will continue until the coating l2 again becomes dry.

During this action, if the design be a line design, such as is employed in steel plate work, the lines of the impression will remain Well defined, but the soluble coloring matter in the ink may combine with the coloring matter in the coating I 2 and thus change the color of the underlying background tint, but the extent of the change may vary in different portions thereof.

The effect is to so change the entire appearance of the stamp as to preclude the re-use thereof without immediate detection.

Heretofore, I have referred solely to the automatic cancellation of a stamp in the event of an attempt being made to remove the stamp from a letter, document or an article by softening the coating of adhesive.

The advantages secured by the use of a stamp embodying the invention, in preventing the erasure of cancellation markings by an acid solution or by an ordinary rubbing eraser, will now be referred to.

When acid solutions are used, the effect of the liquid may be confined to limited areas so as to avoid the smudging resulting from a soaking of the stamp. The liquid of the solution, however, when applied to a small area of the stamp has two effects'in addition to the deletion of an inked cancellation mark. It will dissolve the soluble coloring matter throughout the area of the stamp to which the acid is supplied, and in addition thereto will destroy or modify the coloring matter in the coating l 2 and may even remove a part of this coating. blotch of color and the changing in the color, or the complete removal, of the background tint and of the finish of the paper. These conditions will have the effect of cancelling the stamp quite as effectively as the broad smudge resulting from wetting.

If it be attempted to remove cancellation marks by means of a rubber eraser, such an erasure will remove the impression of the design and also the soft surface coating l2 of the background tint, thus effectively mutilating the surface design in a manner to effectively cancel the stamp.

As has been heretofore stated, the object of the invention is not to prevent alterations of a stamp by changing the matter indicating the value thereof, and hence no provision need be made for preventing the restoration of the coating l2 or the design l3.

Whatever means may be employed to re-con- The effect is the formation of a I dition a stamp to prevent its re-use, the condition of the surface. l2 and of the inked design impressed thereon, if it be attempted to dissolve the adhesive or to remove cancellation marks from the stamp in any manner whatever, will be such as to prevent the restoration of the exposed surface of the stamp to a condition which will conceal the fact that such erasure or such removal has occurred.

High grade or hard papers are ordinarily not used in the production of stamps, and the paper ordinarily employed lends itself to the production of a stamp embodying the invention.

It is not my intention to limitthe invention to any particular kind of paper or the use of any particular material in the surface coating l2, nor is it the intention to limit the invention to any particular percentage of water soluble coloring matter, it being desirable, however, to limit the quantity of such matter to as small an amount as will secure a desired smudging of the stamp when it has been wet in the manner described.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent, is:-

1. Safety revenue, postage and like stamps consisting of a sheet of paper, one surface of which is adapted to receive an adhesive, a finishing coating containing coloring matter upon the other surface thereof, and having a design indicating the value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, water soluble coloring matter and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design.

2. Safety revenue, postage and like stamps consisting of a sheet of paper, one surface of which is adapted to receive an adhesive, a finishing coating containing sizing which becomes soft and absorbent when subjected to water and coloring matter upon the other surface thereof, and having a design indicating the value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, water soluble coloring matter and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design.

3. Safety revenue, postage and like stamps:

consisting of a sheet of paper, one surface of which is adapted to receive an adhesive, a finishing coating containing coloring matter upon the other surface thereof, and having a designindicating the value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, water soluble coloring matter and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design, the water soluble coloring matter being of a neutral color or blended with the color pigment, and the percentage of this coloring matter in the ink being relatively lower than that of the water insoluble pigment.

.4. Safety revenue,.postage and like stamps consisting of a sheet of paper, one surface of which is adapted to receive an adhesive, a finishing coating containing sizing which becomes soft and absorbent when subjected to water and coloring matter upon the other surface thereof, and having a design indicating the value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, Water soluble coloring matter and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design, the water soluble coloring matter being of p a neutral color or blended with the color pigment, and the percentage of this coloring matter in the ink being relatively lower than that of the water insoluble pigment.

5. Safety revenue, postage and like stamps consisting of a sheet of soft paper, one surface of which is adapted to receive an adhesive, a glazed finishing coating containing coloring mat-- ter upon the other surface thereof, and having a design indicating the 'value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, water soluble coloring matter and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design.

6. Safety revenue, postage and like stamps consisting of a sheet of soft paper, one surface of which is adapted to receive an adhesive, a glazed finishing coating containing sizing which becomes soft and absorbent when subjected to water and coloring matter upon the other surface thereof, and having a line design indicating the value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, water soluble coloring matter, and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design.

'7. Safety revenue, postage and like stamps consisting of a sheet of soft paper having a water soluble dry adhesive coating upon one surface thereof, a finishing coating containing coloring matter upon the other surface thereof, and having a design indicating the value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, water soluble coloring matter and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design.

8. Safety revenue, postage and like stamps consisting of a sheet of soft paper having a water soluble dry adhesive coating upon one surface thereof, a finishing coating containing sizing which becomes soft and absorbent when subjected to water and coloring matter upon the other surface thereof, and having a design indicating the value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, water soluble coloring matter and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design, the water soluble coloring matter being of a neutral color or blended with the color pigment, and the percentage of this coloring matter in the ink being relatively lower than that of the water insoluble pigment.

9. Safety revenue, postage and like stamps consisting of a sheet of soft paper having a water soluble dry adhesive coating upon one surface thereof, a finishing coating containing sizing which becomes soft and absorbent when subjected to water and coloring matter upon the other surface thereof, and having a line design indicating the value of the stamp impressed upon said coating, said design being in'an ink containing a water insoluble pigment, water soluble coloring matter and a bodied plate oil vehicle all of such character and in such amounts that the stamp is protected from ordinary moisture and temporary wetting, but upon soaking, the water soluble die is dispersed over the stamp to stain it without destroying the design, the water soluble coloring matter being of a neutral color or blended with the color pigment, and the percentage of this coloring matter in the ink being relatively lower than that of the water insoluble pigment.

ARTHUR A. WITTNEBEL. 

